No peak too high to get Ginger back
● A Bloemfontein woman travelled about 200km through Lesotho mountains to rescue her two horses from rustlers.
Photographer Landi Groenewald, 32, was crushed when her childhood horse, Ginger, a 26-year-old chestnut gelding, and his companion, Anisa, a nine-year-old grey Arabian mare, were stolen from her family’s farm in the Wepener district, bordering Lesotho.
“The groom tracked their hoofprints along with five sets of human shoeprints for 10km before losing them,” said Groenewald.
“We approached the sheep and cattle herders in the surrounding mountains to ask if they had seen the horses. They were sighted by a few, who confirmed that the horses were taken in the direction of Lesotho.”
Groenewald hired private investigator Daniel Polaki, who told the Sunday Times stolen horses were often used for racing in Lesotho.
“We have three main districts where racing occurs frequently,” he said. “The area the horses were seen crossing into was the Mafeteng district, so we used informers in the area to establish where the horses were.”
After 19 days, Groenewald got news that the horses were found. She travelled about 200km with her father and police officers of the Wepener stock unit to recover them.
“They were tied up separately a few metres apart. They had no access to water. I whistled and both horses’ heads shot around and they neighed,” she said. Both have recovered and are under 24-hour guard.
Three men have been arrested for stealing the horses, and Lesotho police spokesperson Mpiti Mopeli said the force was working closely with the stock-theft unit in SA.
“Stock theft increases during winter because it’s darker at night for longer periods and there are low water levels in the river, making it easier for people to cross,” he said.
Mopeli said horseracing was popular throughout Lesotho. Free State police spokesperson Thandi Mbambo said horses were often stolen. “Some were recovered in Lesotho through collaborative efforts by the two countries.”
Just over 5% of the 29,672 animals stolen in the year to the end of March were horses, according to police crime statistics.